A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to dental instruments and, more particularly, to an endodontic adapter with a novel means for attaching a sonic dental instrument to the handle of a sonic periodontal scaler.
B. Description of the Related Art
The daily brushing and flossing of one's teeth is one of the most important hygiene functions that people perform. Failure to do so will inevitably cause tooth decay and gum disease requiring frequent trips to the dentist and expensive repair work. Despite even the noblest of efforts cavities can still appear and require a visit to the dentist. As most people know, a trip to the dentist is a very frightening experience. The dentist's office is filled with a variety of strange looking devices and equipment. The most infamous device is the dental drill, which the dentist uses to drill out decayed tooth material from a tooth to make room for a filling. As most people will attest, this is a very unpleasant experience. Modem dentistry has yielded devices wherein the dental drill is mounted on the head of a sonic instrument. The vibrations of the sonic device are transmitted to the drill for removing decayed tooth material. A variety of other devices can also be mounted on the head of the sonic instrument such as files, reamers, broaches, spreaders, and pluggers each of which perform a different dental function. The present invention is an improved means and apparatus for attaching the dental instruments to the handle of the sonic scaler.
In the related art, there exist several patents for dental scalers and instruments attached to the scaler. Typically, these devices have a dental instrument attached to the head of the scaler. For instance, and of considerable relevance are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,571,183 and 4,484,891 issued in the name of Nash, which discloses a vibratory endodontic scaler with a dental file attached to the head of the scaler via a thumbscrew. However, a problem with this method of attachment occurs because the vibrations from the vibratory means loosen the thumbscrew and the dental instrument becomes loose. This can be disastrous when the instrument is in the patient's mouth. The remainder of the prior art utilizes similar methods to attach the dental instruments to the head of the vibratory means.
Consequently, a need has been felt for providing an improved apparatus and method of attaching dental instruments and the like to the head of a sonic scaler. The development of the endodonic adapter for a sonic scaler fulfills this need.